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Investigations into Mobile barge blasts begin as injured workers cling to life

Mobile Fire-Rescue reports that three people are hurt in multiple fuel barge explosions on the east side of Mobile River on Wednesday night, April 24, 2013, in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/mkittrell@al.com)

Mobile Fire Rescue investigates barge explosion: Apr. 25, 2013Mobile Fire Rescue personnel climb over the the wreckage of two fuel barges docked in the Mobile River in Mobile, Ala. Thursday, Apr. 25, 2013. Seven explosions aboard the barges rocked downtown Mobile Wednesday night and into the early hours of Thursday.

Mobile barge explosions timeline April 24, 2013

8:30 p.m., April 24, 2013: A fuel barge explodes on the east side of the Mobile River; three people reportedly injured.

9 p.m. : A second explosion occurs. Each explosion can be felt for miles. 9:30 p.m.: Third explosion is reported. Officials say that the three injured men are in critical condition at USA Medical Center. 9:51 p.m.: Fourth explosion in the Mobile River. Officials close the river's ship channel and parts of Austal are evacuted. 10:37 p.m.: A fifth explosion occurs. It is reported that the barge has two more compartments with a total of 4,000 gallons of fuel. 11:30 p.m.: Sixth explosion occurs. Crew members from the Carnival Triumph, which is also berthed in the Mobile River, are evacuated as a precaution. 2:30 a.m., April 25: Seventh and final explosion rocks the Mobile River.

MOBILE, Alabama – Three men who were cleaning a pair of barges that exploded Wednesday night on the city’s riverfront continued to cling to life this afternoon, as investigators from three agencies began piecing together what caused the blasts.

A hospital spokesman at the University of South Alabama Medical Center said George Erickson was in critical condition this afternoon. He is believed to be one of three employees of the Oil Recovery Co. who suffered severe injuries when the first explosion occurred at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The other two workers also remained in critical condition.

Seven different explosions rocked the Mobile area Wednesday and early Thursday morning, sending flames shooting high into the nighttime sky in front of the Austal USA ship-building facility along the Mobile River.

Residents as far away as Bay Minette and Fort Morgan reported hearing the blasts, with some saying their homes shook. A powerful-enough blast can actually register as on the Richter scale; in fact, last week’s chemical plant explosion in Texas that leveled four city blocks registered as a small earthquake.

An official at the U.S. Geological Survey said that the agency had not measured any impact from Wednesday’s explosion in Mobile, although he said folks can feel the impact of an explosion miles away from energy that travels over land.

Several people in downtown Mobile reported that their electricity flickered on and off during the explosions, although an Alabama Power spokeswoman said the company had not recorded any outages.

“I guess one of the doors, for lack of a better word,” was thrown out of place by the last of explosions around 2 a.m. this morning, said Steve Huffman, spokesman for the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department.

Huffman said the fire never got hot enough for nearby grain silos to catch fire, but he added that the mostly empty silos were damaged by shrapnel torn off the barges during at least one of the explosions.

Damage estimates were not available Thursday.

Third-shift employees at BAE Systems Inc. suspended work for most of Wednesday night into Thursday morning and could not leave the company's 660 Dunlap Drive property until after 3 a.m., according to a spokesman said.

The explosions attracted curious onlookers with cameras and cell phones, but Mobile Sam Jones and Fire-Rescue Chief Steven Dean warned the public to stay away from the riverfront.

The barges, which previously carried unrefined fuel, had only residual fuel but were “full of vapors,” said Lt. Mike Clausen, a spokesman for the Coast Guard in Mobile.

That actually presented the most dangerous situation, Clausen said.

“It’s more common to have that (an explosion) from vapors than from actual product,” he said. “The safest barges are ones that are filled with product.”

Authorities said the barges belonged to Kirby Inland Marine, a Texas company that bills itself as having the nation’s largest fleet of inland tank barges and towing vessels, with 887 active inland tank barges. It transports a variety of petrochemicals, refined products, black oil and other materials along the Intracoastal Waterway and other inland waters.

Amy Husted, vice president of the company, said in an email that each of the damaged barges had a capacity of approximately 30,000 barrels, or about 1.26 million gallons. She said Oil Recovery Co. was cleaning them in preparation for their next trip.

“Teams from Kirby including experienced salvage and response contractors are developing a salvage and transit plan requesting that the U.S. Coast Guard permit the removal of the damaged barges from the site,” the company said in a statement.

After ensuring no hazards were left on the vessels, firefighters stepped down their work in the river, turning instead to focus on supporting the U.S. Coast Guard and salvage teams.

Officials said they will conduct a damage assessment and create a plan for salvaging and moving the ships.

Reporters John Sharp, Theresa Seiger, and Jessica Sawyer Rigby contributed to this report.